Petrol in Nigeria can be said to be the only engine of the Nigerian train which pulls all the coaches of development and growth, no matter the number of coaches attached to the engine and the distance it has decided to travel. While many past, present and probably future regimes in Nigeria will not consider or believe we are facing a deep-rooted infrastructural deficit, considering the increase in population which grows in a geometric speed. It is time we enlighten those who are and would be leading us every four electioneering year, and this journey of enlightenment must start from the federal, state to the local government levels. The Nigerian youth must begin to tell their leaders that Nigeria must start to invest more on infrastructural project by making our capital expenditure exceed our recurrent expenditure.
When wages in a country do not have commensurable increase to the increase in prices of goods and services both produced within and imported, it will hamper the required growth in the economy, which will cause a sharp shrink in the daily activities of businesses and this will affect the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation, which is a platform for creating massive unemployment and retrenchment, due to lesser purchasing power and the fear of spending even when the money is available to those who are actively employed.
Before any decision is made to increase the price of petroleum products or any other commodity which works as the engine of the economy,alternatives to such products must be fundamental to any administration.
Electricity,road network,rail system and water ways which makes for easy and efficient mobility in production not excluding transportation must be in existence, which will serve as a cushion effect for any increase in price. Consistent infrastructural development helps keep the price of goods and services relatively stable as my research has shown in recent years. I remember vividly, as a child growing up in the old city of Zaria, I never saw what kerosine and petrol looked like, neither did I knew it existed just because there was constant and uninterrupted electricity supply and we used an electric cooker. The first time I got to know what kerosine and petrol was used for was in 1992, when I was in the southern part of the country and it was due to the fact that my grandmother sold kerosine for those who preferred to use it for cooking. At that time, it was sold for 3 Naira and at times 2:50 kobo a gallon. The annulled June 12 elections riots and protest made me to know what premium motor spirit (PMS)looked like and that it could dry when exposed to the air.
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For the past 20 years, Nigeria has systematically suffered a serious infrastructural deficit compared to the present economic and social infrastructural demand due to its increasing population which is not abating, which the government must start planning to fix and must be looking forward into providing for the next 30 years. This simply means we have 20 years infrastructural deficit and at the same time we need to work towards making sure that the government meets the social and economic infrastructural needs of the next 30 years as from today.
By doing this, the pressure which might emanate from the future increase in the price of petroleum products on the Nigerian economy will be minimal compared to what the nation has been experiencing. When infrastructural development becomes the daily bread which the government consumes, it will practically pave way for government to hands off from the business of fixing petroleum product prices and concentrate on governance, because the private sector will be empowered to take over those unsuccessful and unprofitable government enterprises which consumes much of public fund through the massive recurrent expenditure that goes into the drain every year.
Those who do not support and believe in the idea of Mr President in adopting what they termed as an "un" SURE document by the federal government might be right in their own assertion, taking a look at previous documents by former leaders which never saw the light of the day. The truth is that Goodluck Ebele Johnathan might be willing like any other former Nigerian leader did in the past, He can only fail, if those who are to implement the SURE document programme are not interested in his mission which is clear to every reasonable person as at now, in response to the attitude that has began to display its self among those in his cabinet, which is the race for 2015.
For any president to gain an effective and efficient programme implementation with concrete results of at least 50 percent, it must be only that, those whom he is leading, develop a strong political will and an authoritarian vision which the president must aggressively harnessed from the oval office, if he feels he wants to be capable of achieving results, based on the agenda he has set for himself within the shortest time and space. This route might be treacherous due to the radical stand the president will be willing to take, that will make many who are beneficiaries of the old system feel their interest might be in danger of the new reform, the president must have the courage to challenge and fight his fears both at home and abroad to develop the much needed infrastructural challenges the nation is facing.
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